Pentagram has designed the identity, exhibition graphics and signage for the renamed Morgan Library & Museum, the New York institution that reopened on April 29, 2006 with a dramatic expansion by celebrated architect Renzo Piano.
The new identity utilizes a single font called Dante, which was chosen in consultation with John Bidwell, the Morgan’s Astor Curator and Department Head for Printed Books and Bindings. The font appears with unusual consistency on everything from the logo on The Morgan’s letterhead to the labels in the exhibits. Dante, designed in 1954 by the legendary Giovanni Mardersteig, is a twentieth-century revival of an Aldine type that was designed by Aldus Manutius for the 1495 publication of Pietro Bembo’s De aetna, a copy of which is in The Morgan’s holdings.
The formal name of the buildings remains The Pierpont Morgan Library; the new name is used to define the activities that happen within. The institutional name change—from “The Pierpont Morgan Library” to “The Morgan Library & Museum”—reflects the institution’s renewed commitment to exhibitions, education, and public programs. The expectation is the name will shift to “The Morgan,” and in applications of the signature, “Morgan” is customarily highlighted in a contrasting color.
Pentagram’s signage and environmental graphics for the library also use the same typeface. Letters appear pin-mounted in gold, bronze and bright red, as well as on glass and in a steel bas-relief at the main entrance.
